In late-July New York State Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs) in Sullivan County responded to an antique store in the Town of Mamakating after receiving a tip from a frequent shopper about a mounted mountain lion head being offered for sale there. An undercover officer located the mounted head in the back of the store and made a deal to purchase it just as a uniformed officer responded to the location. [Read more…] about Catskills Antique Shop Found With Illegal Taxidermy
hunting
New Deer Hunting Season at Saratoga Spa State Park
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) will open an undeveloped section of Saratoga Spa State Park to white tail deer hunting for the 2026-27 season as part of a deer management program. [Read more…] about New Deer Hunting Season at Saratoga Spa State Park
Adirondack Land Trust Protects 2,400 Acres; Buys New Headquarters
The Adirondack Land Trust has made two recent important purchases – 2,390 acres in the Essex County town of Chesterfield and “the round building” at 2345 Saranac Avenue in Lake Placid, which it is planning to transform into office space for the land conservation nonprofit’s new headquarters. [Read more…] about Adirondack Land Trust Protects 2,400 Acres; Buys New Headquarters
New Regulations Increase Antlerless Deer Hunting
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced several changes to whitetail deer hunting regulations to increase the number of antlerless deer (primarily female) killed each hunting season.
“Deer populations are growing across much of New York and, in many areas, are increasing to levels that are detrimental to deer, their habitat, and the public,” according to DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton. [Read more…] about New Regulations Increase Antlerless Deer Hunting
Fake Turkey Shot From Road; Poaching Canada Geese; Illegal Fishing
An angler caught in the act filleting his illegal catch, and a large group ticketed for poaching more than a dozen striped bass are just some of the cases NYS Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs) encountered in recent weeks.
The most surprising occurred on Sunday morning, May 10th, ECOs Brown, Dorrett, Heckler, and Hilton were using a robotic wild turkey decoy to catch people illegally road hunting in Williamstown, Oswego County, NY– it didn’t take long. [Read more…] about Fake Turkey Shot From Road; Poaching Canada Geese; Illegal Fishing
Final Recreation Plans Announced for Hamilton County Easement Tracts
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the final Recreation Management Plan (RMP) for the Speculator Tree Farm, Perkins Clearing and Burnham Mountain Conservation Easement Tracts in the Adirondack Park.
The RMP was developed in partnership with Lyme Adirondack Forest Company, the landowner. [Read more…] about Final Recreation Plans Announced for Hamilton County Easement Tracts
Hunting, Poaching & The American Revolution
John Bird Burnham (1869-1939), Chief Game Protector for the state of New York in the early 1900s, once made an observation worthy of Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America.
“The union of monarchial game laws with an anti-monarchial sentiment make for an impossible marriage, and in America, drastic prohibitions on hunting can never be as effective as they are in England,” he wrote. [Read more…] about Hunting, Poaching & The American Revolution
Bear Hunting Statistics Show Record Number Killed in 2025
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that hunters killed an estimated 1,759 black bears during the 2025-26 hunting seasons in New York State.
According to DEC’s tracking of the annual bear harvest since 1955, this was second only to the 2003 season, and Southern Zone estimates set a new record as well. [Read more…] about Bear Hunting Statistics Show Record Number Killed in 2025
Mallard Ducks: An Environmental History Leading to Decline
Most people in New York when asked to picture a duck, they’re thinking of an eastern mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos) – the green head, the quack, the pond. But just 90-100 years ago, mallards were not known to breed in New York State. Since the ban of live decoys in the 1930s, mallards have been released and taken over as the preeminent duck of the northern Atlantic Flyway.
After all-time highs in the early 2000s however, we have seen significant declines in eastern mallards. [Read more…] about Mallard Ducks: An Environmental History Leading to Decline
An Adirondack Social History of Twitchell Lake
The Adirondack Park is a unique balance of public preserves and private land, a birthplace of the American wilderness vacation, and a large-scale experiment in humans and nature thriving together (and showing a remarkable ecological recovery).
Reflecting on my own small Adirondack lake community at Twitchell Lake in Herkimer County, social life seems to have passed through at least three phases – among the rugged early sportsmen and women, through the wild “Gilded Age” settlement era, and into our turbulent 20th and 21st centuries. [Read more…] about An Adirondack Social History of Twitchell Lake
Environmental Conservation Police Statistics for 2023-2025
In 2025, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Division of Law Enforcement fielded an estimated 101,169 calls.
These resulted in Environmental Conservation Police Officers (ECOs) and Investigators across the state responding to more than 35,575 complaints. [Read more…] about Environmental Conservation Police Statistics for 2023-2025
State Museum Confirms Wild Gray Wolf in New York
Scientists from the New York State Museum, in collaboration with researchers from Princeton University and the Northeast Ecological Recovery Society, have confirmed the first documented case of a wild gray wolf south of the St. Lawrence River in decades.
The confirmation is based on analysis of a canid shot by a hunter outside Cooperstown in Cherry Valley, Otsego County in December 2021. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced its confirmation the animal was a wolf in 2022. [Read more…] about State Museum Confirms Wild Gray Wolf in New York
State Acquires Easements on 1,200 Acres in Northern New York
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the acquisition of approximately 1,624 acres of conservation easement on lands in Northern New York from the Open Space Institute (OSI).
Approximately 1,414 acres were acquired through a conservation easement held by OSI on lands owned by Chazy Resource Management Inc. (CRMI) in Clinton County, while a 210-acre conservation easement in Essex County on lands owned by OSI was also purchased. [Read more…] about State Acquires Easements on 1,200 Acres in Northern New York
Forest Rangers Recover Hunter’s Body, Make Hiker Rescues
WINTER CONDITIONS: Plan ahead, check the weather to know what winter conditions to expect. Snowshoes, crampons, or microspikes may be needed in addition to insulated boots. DEC’s website has tips for safe winter hiking.
The following reports of recent searches and rescues carried out by Forest Rangers and other first responders around New York State were prepared by DEC: [Read more…] about Forest Rangers Recover Hunter’s Body, Make Hiker Rescues
Forest Rangers Assist Unprepared Catskills Hikers
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents throughout New York State locating and extracting lost, injured or distressed people and policing state lands.
This report of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers was prepared by DEC: [Read more…] about Forest Rangers Assist Unprepared Catskills Hikers
Burgeoning Black Bear Populations
A few nights ago, I heard a crash on the front porch and flicked on the light to reveal a black bear’s reflective eyes. It lorded over the contents spilling out of our overturned floor freezer. I opened the door, prompting it to tear back through the screen and off into the night.
With the Northeast black bear population at a record high, this kind of encounter is no surprise. [Read more…] about Burgeoning Black Bear Populations
Cabin Fever & Adirondack Storytelling
As big game season and Veterans’ Day align, I tend to think of my friend, the late Don Brightman, who died in 2019. Don, a resident of Burnt Hills, was a founding board member of Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve. Don visited, fished, hunted, rowed, camped, and canoed the Adirondacks regularly, alone, and with members of his family.
Some of those visits were to an Adirondack cabin, “Beaver House,” named by the man who built the cabin, someone Don knew well, Paul Schaefer. [Read more…] about Cabin Fever & Adirondack Storytelling
Forest Rangers Kept Busy With Searches and Rescues
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents throughout New York State locating and extracting lost, injured or distressed people and policing state lands.
This report of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers was prepared by DEC: [Read more…] about Forest Rangers Kept Busy With Searches and Rescues
Rangers Kept Busy With Hunter, Hiker and Angler Missions
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents throughout New York State locating and extracting lost, injured or distressed people and policing state lands.
This report of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers was prepared by DEC: [Read more…] about Rangers Kept Busy With Hunter, Hiker and Angler Missions
12-Year Old Hunter Inspires Overnight Search
New York State Forest Rangers have reported that on October 12 at about 9 pm, Herkimer County 911 requested Forest Ranger assistance with the search for an overdue hunter who entered the woods off Christman Road in the town of Ohio in Herkimer County adjacent to Ferris Lake Wild Forest.
Rangers say a 28-year-old from Dolgeville took a 12-year-old hunting during the big game season’s youth hunt, but the pair became separated. [Read more…] about 12-Year Old Hunter Inspires Overnight Search